Brian Bears

Erin brought Dane a very special present when she came over with Charles last weekend.  Dane Brian Welke is named after Brian Hemmerly, the best man at our wedding.  He was such an incredible person and we will never forget him.  The bears are made from Brian's clothes.  Words cannot express how special Brian was and how special these bears are to us.  It's not at all surprising that the kiddos love them.

Bye Bye Ba!

We had a bye bye ba party for Madeline in hopes that it would help her get over her ba addiction!   She started calling the paci a "ba" at a young age.  We never really figured out how and why she came up with it, but it stuck.  We let her have it for the Florida trip and then it was time to give it up.  The day of the party, the Newton's, Shook's and grammie and papo come over for brunch. She decorated a container and placed her ba's inside.  Then she put them in her closet and said bye to them forever!

She has done really well.  The first couple of naps and nights were a little tough for her, but she got over it.  The first night without it, she asked Matt, "Can I just look at them?"  She now says that baby's use them and she is a big girl.  She hasn't put Dane's ba's in her mouth either, which has really surprised me!

She didn't protest at all, and placed her ba's inside and ran upstairs to put them away.

She is ready to put them away in the closet with some help from daddy.

Time Marches On

Hard to believe it, but I am back at work.  I REALLY enjoyed my time at home with the kiddos.  We had so much fun heading to library time and doing things at our own pace.  It took some time adjusting to life with two little ones.  Someone told me it's more than double the work and I have to agree!  Dane is such a sweetie and his smile melts me every time.  Unfortunately, he still has not slept through the night.  Right now he wakes at 11, 3 and 5.  He is rolling over - the family got to see that happen in Naples.  Everyone thinks he resembles my side of the family.  Maddie continues to be a little girl who has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!  She loves her dolls and loves to play!  We sometimes call her hyper Piper and she corrects us with, "I'm Maddie!"  I just love these two little ones so much!!!

 We took out the tree this past weekend and the angel came down.  Maddie had a little picnic before she was packed away.

Maddie Mommy!!

I tried the Baby Bijorn with Dane (he doesn't like it too much) and Maddie went and put on her baby carrier!  She even took it a step further by putting on my gloves.

Fun in Florida

On our last evening, we headed to a different part of Naples. There were a lot of cute shops. Madeline was going to the windows pointing out what she liked on the ladies. It was a riot! She had pretty good taste!

Grammie and Papo treated us to a nice dinner at The Village Pub on our last night in Naples. Dane slept the entire time and Maddie was great. We need to go out to dinner more often!

Papo and Maddie look at the fish in the harbor.

Grandpa Welke helping Maddie walk the "plank" at the beach. Maddie and Addie hit up the beach a lot with the g-p's early in the morning. Dane kept us up a lot during the night, so we slept in most mornings during their beach time.

Dane's 1st Beach Experience. He liked it! We just love how his whole face lights up when he smiles!

The beach was gorgeous! Maddie LOVED looking for shells. I am just waiting for her to ask for them (but we packed super light, so they didn't make the trip home)...so far, so good!

Grandma Welke helped Maddie look for good shells. They each had their favorites!

Dane and Grandpa watch Maddie play at the park.

The park at the beach was very cool! There were 2 different play areas with a couple of dolphin statues. Maddie's favorite thing to do was play "SHARK!!!" We had to run onto the play equipment when Maddie would yell, "Shark!" She had a lot of fun.

Giving Addison a hug good-bye. They bonded big time! The hot tub (not turned up) was Maddie and Addie's little pool. Grandpa made big waves for them and they loved it!

Sweet Ava watches the all of the action! The noodles were just so much fun! Most of the time Maddie and Addie used them as fishing poles. They also found other fun ways to use them! Grandpa making big waves - they loved it! Maddie kept saying "MORE BIG WAVES!"

Ice Cream Lovin Girls! The girls each had a rather large ice cream cone since they didn't have a kids cone. It wasn't hard for them to finish them. These girls love their ice cream!

Monkey See, Monkey Do!

Papo feeding Dane in dowtown Naples. Grandpa and Grandma Welke brought the girls and Dane (no pictures...sad) adorable outfits! All eyes were on the girls as we headed downtown Naples. Everyone thought the girls were sisters.

Cousin Love!

Maddie and Addie look like sisters! They definitely resemble each other!

Grammie bought Dane a bunch of clothes for Florida. She also got him some cute pug clothes. Gotta love the tail on the back of the outfit!

We had one rainy day on the front end of the trip. We walked around and found a ceramic studio. The girls had fun painting ornaments. Addison showed her love for blue by painting all three of her ornaments blue...even Santa Clause!

Matt is loving this!!!

Dane's first plane trip. He was GREAT! We were all sick the week before we left. I was the last to catch the nasty cold and my ears were feeling it on the flight. Thankfully Maddie and Dane were ok! I took them both to the doctor two days before we left for the trip to make sure they were ok. Timing worked out after all!

I wasn't great at taking pictures, but here are some other things we did in Naples:

Took an airboat ride in the Everglades and saw quite a few alligators, my mom and I rode bikes into town, we went to an animal sanctuary and went kayaking, went to dinner at THE DOCK, hung out tons in the awesome private pool and hot tub, took the girls to a cool park in downtown Naples, and had family fun! It was awesome having the grandparents there to help.